Somewhere in London
by hermitstull
Summary: It's an AU future where HG never returns to the Warehouse (it's never far from her thoughts) and finds herself quite successful in another line of work
1. Bad Absentee

It had been eight years since she'd spent time within the Warehouse and its world of 'Endless Wonder'. She'd taken Mrs. Fredric's words to heart and cut ties with the place. At first it had been a difficult transition, the hardest being after the sweating sickness had passed.

It meant that it was safe for her to return. To Her.

But time and fate made sure that wouldn't be possible.

Ever adaptable, her skills had proven useful on the road, earning her much attention in certain circles that didn't care about anything other than results. She had created her own cottage industry that had given many a fit to certain governments across the globe. America wasn't currently on her friend's list and might not be again.

She sipped her morning tea looking over the Hong Kong skyline, pushing all thoughts of those left behind out of her head. It was an increasingly difficult endeavor, especially when she learned of the regime change within the Warehouse walls.

But 'freelancing' wasn't quite a free as one was lead to believe. And her current employers wouldn't take kindly to her sudden change of heart. Plus she had to admit that she did take a certain amount of satisfaction in earning her reputation as the one who could complete the impossible job.

After Canada, no one questioned her abilities. She now had a waiting list.

Finishing the last of her tea she spared one more look over the vast harbor. The view was breathtaking and so different from her last visit. So many things were in this brave new world.

It was time to send a care package to the Warehouse. To let them, and her, know that she was okay and still amongst the living. And that their choice of new location would be an acceptable one. Even if the building was some time away from completion.

Standing, she carefully stepped over the body of her latest target and headed to the sink to deposit her cup. This one had almost been too easy, but it paid well so she couldn't refuse. Her next job was already in the works and the logistics certainly were a challenge.

She was HG Wells though and nothing, not even love, could stand in her way.


	2. A Cat of a Different Coat

HG sighed as she gingerly sat down, feeling an uncomfortable pull on her side. The white cell phone on the end table began to buzz, but she ignored it. They could wait. They could all wait while she recovered.

Six months. Six months of planning, researching, investing, pulling in favors and owing others to complete the job. It would make her a fortune, cement her as a legend, and allow her the freedom to be choosier about how she spent her time.

The job had gone sideways nearly from the beginning but she was able to pull things together. Yes, it was a bit messier that she liked-civilians and whatnot-but a job was a job and she was a professional. Her perfect completion record would not be compromised.

Fate was ever a practical joker though so part of her wasn't surprised to find Pete Lattimer and another agent meeting with her target as she stepped into the office.

Curiosities and their infuriating ability to pop up where you least wanted them.

Her mission complete she took a moment to examine Agent Lattimer. He looked much the same, except with more gray than the last time she'd observed him. No ring, but she knew he wore it on a chain around his neck.

At least the Warehouse had allowed him to find a modicum of happiness. The other Agent would not have that luxury.

Well, there were always others ready to serve.

"HG," Pete murmured. "What the…"

"Shh," HG placed a finger on his lips. "You've been injured. Help is coming."

The white phone vibrated again. Wincing she leaned over and reviewed her messages. Things were a mess but she was in the clear. Small favors she supposed.

Tomorrow she would call Yuri and see if his condo was available. Recovery in the tropics sounded lovely right about now.

Sinking further into the couch she the weight of the last two weeks settle and pull her into slumber. Dozing, she almost missed hearing the ringtone so old and so familiar from the black phone in the drawer.

"Fuck," she swore sitting up too quickly and scrambling for the first phone she'd even owned in this new world. She should have shut it down years ago but her sentimental side got the best of her.

Taking a deep breath, she flipped open the ancient device to read the message. She couldn't suppress the butterflies in her stomach.

Even though she would never go back, could never go back, part of her would always want to.


	3. To Cover What We Can't Erase

Myka set the phone down and looked out across the backyard of Leena's. The inn keeper was long gone, but the bed and breakfast would always be hers.

It was late, far too late for her to be sitting here thinking about what was and what might have been. Pete had returned from Dubai bruised and battered. And alive, unlike Agent Morris, who would be laid to rest next week in his small hometown of Aitkin, Minnesota.

It never got easier, losing an agent, especially one she'd recommended to the Caretaker. Artie had warned her about getting too close when he turned over the keys to the Warehouse but she knew it would be a difficult task to distance herself 100% from those she worked with.

Pete lived with his wife on the other side of town and they still talked ever day, even if they didn't see each other. The same went for Steve and even Claudia who's role of Caretaker kept her quite busy.

Myka had read the report about a snag and bag that went horribly wrong. How they'd missed the Intel about a hit taken out on their suspect and that one of the world's top death dealers had been contracted to take care of business.

And add another dead Agent to Helena's considerable list.

She wished she could forgive or forget. Either. Both. Anything to push down the never ending tempest of emotions the dark haired woman caused in her. It had been nearly 10 years since she'd last spent any quality time with the time traveler. Since Sykes bomb, since her reinstatement and subsequent loss.

Since the one, the only night, the beginning and ultimately the end.

She knew what Helena did now and didn't approve (but was impressed that she was the top in her field.) She knew that if Helena returned to America that she would spend the rest of her days in a cell (but she couldn't let go of the hope that one day she would.) She had other lovers, some of them men (but nothing could compare to Helena Wells.)

She picked up the phone again. She'd kept it all these years because it was the only one that had Helena's phone number, in the hopes of….she didn't even know.

Turing it on, she began to type.


	4. Because she always liked the shadow

"So," he paused, stirring his vodka tonic. "What really happened in Dubai?"

HG rolled her eyes. "This? Again?"

"It's been almost six months. Too soon?"

"Yes, an anniversary I'd quite like to forget. Thank you so much for bringing it up Yuri."

He chuckled. "There has been some talk as of late about that job. A story, really, about a witness who might or might not have gotten away."

HG snorted. "A fairytale of epic proportions I'm sure." She leaned forward, almost knocking her own drink off of the small table they shared. "You know that is not something I do. Or does the high body count from that nightmare not prove that point?"

"It was quite messy." Yuri arched his eyebrow and leaned back. "That much is true. But this fairytale continues to linger."

HG looked at her sometimes business associate, sometimes lover. She had worked many jobs with the Ukrainian and owed him her time, trusting him as much as she did anyone as of late. There was no way he could know that she only wounded Agent Lattimer, unable to pull the trigger because of his attachment to her.

To Myka.

"I'll play this game then Yuri," HG smirked. "What if there was a witness? What if, for some unfathomable reason, I let someone slip away alive. Where are they now? Why have they not come forward? Why am I not sweltering in some Middle Eastern dungeon or dead?"

"All good questions," Yuri agreed. "The witness cannot come forward because of what he does, who he works for. It would complicate things for many people. You have many friends and much respect in our community which is why you are here. But this witness cannot be allowed to roam free any longer."

"Well since he's a fictional character things are all sorted then."

Yuri shook his head slightly. "You are a stubborn woman. It is one of your most charming qualities. I let you know these things because you are my friend. And that others are looking out for you." He lowered his voice, "But you and I both know that an error like this will not be tolerated again."

* * *

HG pulled her coat tight around her as she walked back to her apartment. The temperature had dropped quite a bit during her meeting with Yuri. Winter was coming to Wroclaw.

Her pocket vibrated. She reached down and pulled out the red phone. Yes, there was the expected message from Yuri but there was also a text from an unknown number. Slowing she opened to read, thinking it might time to get a new phone if spam had found her.

Her heart began to pound as she read the seven words on her screen.

Come in. We need to talk.-A. Kosan.


	5. Fkin Problems

The music was deafening and the club was packed with young 'hipsters' or whatever they were called these days. Young people, always so desperate to be an individual by succumbing to what was perceived as popular.

Some things truly were timeless.

This music though, was not.

She cursed herself for picking the club as a meeting spot with Kosan. The text from three weeks ago had thrown her into a minor panic. Not because she would have to deal with The Regents, but because someone unknown had gotten one of her numbers.

She had burned all the phones, save the black one.

"Hey girl," an young, highly inebriated man stepped in front of her. She looked up into his bleary eyes and attempted to move past him.

He was quick, for both his size and his intoxicated state.

"Hold up," he smiled. "I just want to talk for a sec."

"Sorry," she slipped into her American accent easily. "Haven't the time. Excuse me."

He again blocked her way. Kosan was not a patient man and she was already late.

"Whoever he is, he can wait."

"Afraid not love."

Two hits later and the man was gasping on the floor and HG was entering the VIP section.

* * *

"An interesting meeting choice Miss Wells," Kosan looked exactly like how she remembered him. "I was beginning to fear you were going to stand me up."

"I wanted to make sure you had proper time to appreciate the atmosphere. Now talk."

"We know about the events in Dubai."

"And?"

"And that Agent Lattimer is now in danger from your current associates."

"I'm aware. Still not sure why I'm here Kosan. There's not much I can do about what's going to happen to Agent Lattimer."

"I seriously doubt that the great HG Wells can't solve this puzzle."

HG counted to ten before she replied. He was baiting her, thinking that she might still care. Even if she did there was nothing she could do. Those who employed people with her skill set would just as soon eliminate everyone in the Warehouse to solve the Lattimer problem.

And that absolutely could not happen.

"I'm afraid this is one that I won't be able to suss out. I am sorry for your loss." She turned to go.

"You know if this happens Miss Wells, we will have to respond in kind."

"Then you will lose. These are people that I wouldn't cross Kosan. They won't hesitate to take down everyone involved with the Warehouse. Including you."

This time she did leave, knowing that this wasn't over. If only she'd just taken care of business in Dubai she wouldn't find herself in this situation. Sentimentality was still her greatest weakness.

Hindsight, always perfect vision.

The Brazilian job was about to start so there was no time to deal with the Lattimer problem. Yuri would let her know when things were completed.

Stepping out onto the street she noticed a body being loaded into a ambulance. By the looks of things it was a night of clubbing gone wrong.

Sometimes you really should just let a lady pass when she asks.


	6. I was just soakin my head

Myka wasn't sure what bothered her more, the fact that Pete was under some super secret Regent protection program or that Kosan had talked to Helena face to face in Vancouver two weeks ago.

She glossed over the fact Kosan made sure to mention the young man Helena killed that night as well.

Add another body on the roll call of HG Wells.

The Warehouse was under attack, yet again, but not for its treasures. That list was a long one, seeming to grow by at least one every year.

And to think Helena was on it as both villain and hero.

She supposed that the Victorian's ledger was quite red now.

"I'm going into town," she announced to Steve and the new recruit, Adelaide Lake, fresh from a stint with the NSA. Another code breaker to replace the ever busier Claudia. "Be back in an hour or so."

* * *

"No book today?" Bill asked as he made her latte. The coffee shop was a small refuge from the world of the Warehouse. It helped her to feel normal, if even for only an hour or two.

"Nope," she gave him a faint smile. "Just here on a break from work."

She sat in the sun, hoping the light would help clear her head. Myka wasn't one for vibes but she knew, had known for months that this day was coming. Helena was a killer, one that the Regents had set lose upon the land. Despite all that she'd done for the Warehouse she was again a threat.

Even if the Regents had given her 10 years to roam the Earth, collecting her bounty.

Even if Myka's murky feelings for the woman hadn't cleared with time.

Even if Helena's actions meant that Myka would meet her again.

She knew that meeting would not go well.

The front door bell jingled, pulling her out of her head for a moment. A man Myka had never seen before was at the counter. He spoke with an accent, something from Eastern Europe.

Sighing, she looked back out the window at downtown Univille.


	7. The cage is lowered the water is red

There was nothing quite like the satisfaction of a clean kill. Simple. Elegant. Free of mess and collateral damage. She dropped the target with a single bullet to the head from a considerable distance and had slipped away into the twilight before anyone realized.

Sometimes she truly loved her work.

She drove through the winding streets of Rio, ever cognizant of her surroundings, towards the safe house that was set up for those in her profession. She was pleased that she had the estate to herself for a change.

She could only tell the story of Wellington, of Beijing, of God forsaken Canada so many times.

* * *

After a quick swim and a shower, she slipped out onto the veranda and into one of the battered yet comfortable chairs scattered across it. She sent a quick text from the green phone to let her contractor know the job was complete. She would check the bank account in the morning to make sure her fee was there.

She next checked the blue phone. Yuri had been sending cryptic texts regarding the Lattimer problem. She had been able to discern that he was the control on this hit and not the actual assassin. Her friend knew very little about her past, about the time before who she was now.

He would never know that the woman in the coffee shop was Myka Bering.

She looked over at the black phone, resisting its siren's call for another night. The temptation to reach out was a strong as it had ever been. But that life, that woman, was off limits.

The blue phone beeped unexpectedly. Yuri had sent another message. She reread it twice to make sure. They needed a researcher, a code breaker really, who could hack into government files and locate information on a certain Warehouse.

She was the best available at the moment.

Damn.

Before she could formulate an elegant way to turn down the offer, another phone sprang to life.

It wasn't a message, it was someone calling her. On the black phone.

Before she could stop herself she was reaching for the device, hitting the answer button.

Quiet breathing greeted her. After what seemed like an eternity, a shaky breath, then words.

"Pete's dead. Come home Helena. I need you."


	8. And the promises broke

_Myka, I can't._

The words echoed through Myka's brain, like a leaf on the wind, floating with no destination or end in sight.

She'd been weak, calling Helena, knowing that the woman's actions had led her here. To stand one last time beside the only brother she'd ever known, watching his wife accept the flag draped over his coffin. His mother sitting beside her, a stony expression cast her direction when their eyes met.

And what had she expected with that call? That the woman she once knew, better than anyone else, would step out of her midnight world and into the murk with her? The woman who had had talked about solving puzzles was long gone, replaced by this creature who thrived on death and destruction.

Perhaps that was who HG Wells truly was when all was said and done. That her time with Myka had been the exception, not the rule.

Perhaps that is what hurt most of all.

The service ended and people began to say their goodbyes. Myka stood apart, in her grief and her guilt as the others drifted away. Eventually she had to move, Kosan had called an emergency meeting with the Regents and their security team. The Warehouse had been hacked and the breach had been linked to a very old code once used by Claudia.

Kosan had promised her that swift action would be taken against anyone who threatened the Warehouse in this manner.

And she was glad. She already had the outline of a plan for what to do.

She glanced back one last time at the grave as she got in the rental car, saying a final goodbye.

Her breath caught, seeing the slim figure with long dark hair standing where she had been moments before.

Their eyes met. She had her answers now.


	9. Scarlet billows begin to spread

"Are we sure this is the best course of action? This business seems," she paused, looking of the files scattered over the table. "Petty and vengeful. You know this isn't how we normally operate."

"Since when are you one to questions the motives behind a job?" Yuri asked.

"When hitting a large number of targets involved with a government is the task at hand," HG fired back. "I'm not even supposed to be working in America."

"The others have already accepted, you are the last to sign on."

"Find someone else Yuri."

"There is no one else," he sighed. "I have been in this business many years, just like my father. You are one of the best of all times. The contractors will not fund the project unless you agree."

"No pressure there." HG mumbled.

"There is no pressure if you say yes."

HG looked again at the information spread across the table. Despite the Lattimer problem being handled nearly a year ago, the back and forth underground war between The Regents and her employers raged on.

After three failed attempts to take her life, it appeared the Regents had moved on to other less costly targets.

She didn't feel wrath, she felt exhausted.

"Yuri," she said quietly, "if I do this. If I agree to take this job, it will have three conditions. One-that I will pick the targets from this list and they will be our sole focus. Two-that these two people" she lifted two pictures taken from a distance, "are to be left alive. They will be the best ones to negotiate a cease fire when this is over."

Dark eyes bored into the man standing across from her. "Three-that you leave the woman behind all of this to me."

"These are a lot of concessions. I am not sure if the contractors will agree."

"Then I most certainly never will. I don't have a need for any of this. I have jobs of my own in prep stages Yuri and this entire situation has been nothing but a distraction."

"I will ask and let you know." Yuri picked up his coat. He looked over at HG.

"How do you know it is a woman who created this mess we are now in?"

HG turned away, glancing at the kitchen drawer that held the shattered remains of the black phone.

"She told me."


	10. The smile is red and it shines so black

Everything had gone exactly to her meticulous plan. Yuri had hired the best and they had all completed their tasks brilliantly. The timetable had been perfect, causing enough panic and disruption to the system that allowed her to make the journey back unmolested by Regent personnel.

America was always a trip fraught with memories that set her on edge. The confusion of escaping her bronze prison. The madness of all consuming rage. The attempt to return to the things she once thought she loved.

And the one thing her black heart still did.

But they said you always hurt the ones you love and she was here to do exactly that.

She knew that with both Kosan and Lattimer gone, the Regents would be in a tailspin. None of their current lineup had served for long enough to fully understand the mysteries of the Warehouse.

Claudia would be in Egypt helping them sort through the process of selecting a new head Regent.

They would also need to select a new chief of security and a good portion of their force. The Dutchman's ruse had been extraordinary. She was a bit jealous.

It had taken some time, but she had tracked down the perfect artifact that was just deadly enough not to be ignored and sent it to Cape Town. Steve and the new girl would be gone for weeks on the hunt.

That left only Myka.

* * *

Leena's hadn't changed much over the years. The same warm, cozy feeling swept over her as she quietly closed the door. It was early, just after sunrise. She had been observing Myka for weeks, learning her routine. HG knew the other woman would be up soon to make a quick breakfast of fruit and coffee before heading to the Warehouse.

She'd been debating since the contractors agreed to her terms on how to deal with the Myka Bering situation. The smart choice would be to follow her standard plan and make the kill from a distance. She'd had plenty of opportunity but couldn't pull the trigger.

That damn sentimental streak.

Breaking her own rules, she found herself sitting at the breakfast table, cup of tea in her hand. Waiting.

She heard the floor boards creak above her. It was time.

* * *

"Where will she?"

"It is best that you do not know. This is not something that will sit well with our community. It does not sit well with me."

"But you agreed to do it anyway."

"There are some requests that cannot be refused. This is not the first friendship to end in this manner. It will not be the last."

Yuri sighed, watching the body bag being loaded into his van.

"And we are concluded then? A ceasefire."

Yuri nodded, looking over at his clever foe. He would make sure that her death for what she'd arranged would be a painful one.

No charge.

"You are a good enemy, Myka Bering. Worthy of this game."

* * *

Fate, the ever cruel practical joker, had made sure the package arrived two weeks after Helena was gone. Normally these missives from the one time Agent would contain artifacts and a note or two on their origin. From time to time a first edition would be included. One that she knew Myka would like.

She'd been silently hyperventilating/sobbing for over an hour after reading the first of dozens, no hundreds of letters written by Helena, to her, from over the years. Stacked in order she read the most recent letter first, dated the day before the Victorian had left for Univille.

_Dearest Myka,_

_I find myself somewhere in London, missing you terribly…_


	11. Story notes

Thanks for reading! This site doesn't allow complete chapter title listings so I wanted to share the complete title of each one.

1. Bad Absentee

2. A Cat of a Different Coat

3. To cover what we can't erase

4. Because she always liked the shadow better than her reflection

5. F**kin Problems

6. I was just soakin my head to unrattle my brain

7. The cage is lowered and the water is red, like you

8. And the promises broke, and the make-believe ran out

9. You know when that shark bites, with his teeth babe, scarlet billows start to spread

10. The smile is red and it shines so black, I don't think I'll be coming back

There's also playlist that goes with this work. Check it out over on 8 tracks dot com. Playlist titled Somewhere in London, user name MFAngeleeta.


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